At a joint meeting of the planning board and selectmen Monday, Town Planner Greg Guimond presented commercial districts in town that could be added to the allowed area, but all three selectmen said they’re not comfortable expanding recreational marijuana sales beyond the industrial zone.
“It seems there is enough opportunity that someone who wants to open a facility can find enough land to work with,” Board Chair James Fitzgerald said. “I don’t think at this point in time anyone has expressed that there is a need to open that up further.”
Resident Brian Wall said restricting the establishments to the industrial zone wasn’t business friendly.
“There is almost no where to put it – the one building available in that district is exorbitantly priced,” Wall said. “As residents we voted it in, but then we’ve almost voted it out because there is nowhere to put it … I think it could be beneficial to the town and I would hate to see us not find other places to put it in.”
Town Administrator Michael Maresco said retailers are already expressing interest in coming to town.
“There are three or four businesses that are looking at Marshfield … and one business is looking at us for potentially cultivating,” he said.
Guimond also suggested selectmen consider proposing an expansion of the definition of recreational-marijuana retailer.
The definition approved by town meeting voters generally allows licensed people or businesses to sell and transfer the drug. Guimond suggested amending it to specifically allow marijuana cultivators, craft marijuana cultivator cooperatives, retailers, product manufacturers, independent testing laboratories, micro businesses and third-party transporters.
“Some of these things, at the time, were not discussed as potential uses until town meeting when people said ‘oh, there are multiple other uses and there are higher paying jobs that you’re not covering,’” Guimond said. “So I added language into the definition that would add some of those uses in.”